


Do you trust me?

by ConCorpRepresentative



Category: Hermitcraft
Genre: Gen, wrote most of this at midnight don't @ me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-24 04:21:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21093311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConCorpRepresentative/pseuds/ConCorpRepresentative
Summary: Cub asks Scar an important question.





	1. Chapter 1

“Do you trust me?” Cub asked, sitting on the stone wall as Scar began to sort through his stuff.

“What do you mean?” Scar replied, opening a shulker box and frowning at the contents.

“Do you trust me?” He repeated, “As in… do you feel comfortable working with me? Do you feel comfortable being my business partner?”

“Duh.” Scar let out a laugh. He looked up, meeting eyes with his friend. His expression went from a smile to a frown, “Are you okay Cub?”

“Yeah, I’m just fine.” Cub shrugged, turning away.

Scar paused. He narrowed his eyes, ascertaining whether to push further. He sighed, jumping up to the wall and sitting beside Cub.

“Are you okay, Cub?”

Cub stayed silent, looking away and towards the ConCorp ore vats. He bit his lip and sighed as he fiddled with a firework rocket.

“You won’t believe me if I say yes, will you?” He laughed, tearing his nail on the rocket.

“Nope, I won’t. Whether that’s a good thing or not, I don’t know.” Scar nudged Cub, “Now come on. What did you mean about me trusting you?”

“I meant what I meant. I was just wondering if you still trusted me.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“I did something bad, Scar.” He looked back at his friend, “I did something really bad.”

Scar furrowed his eyebrows, looking down to the floor. Once again his mind began to race, wondering whether he wanted to continue. The tone of Cub’s voice sent shivers down his spine.

“What did you do, Cub?” He whispered.

“Everyone’s already gone.” He hoarsely muttered.

“Cub, what’s going on?” Scar began to panic, his mind conjuring scenarios so haunting they disturbed him.

“I lured them all into the nether and shut the portals.” Cub laughed, “All of them.”

“If this is some kind of a joke, Cub, I’m not finding it very funny.”

“It’s not. I found something and I couldn’t let any of them take it.”

“Found something? What did you find?” Scar tapped Cub on the shoulder, trying to look into his eyes.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed weird things happening on the server, Scar. You aren’t dumb.”

Casting his mind back, Scar began to realise that everything he’d seen hadn’t been a coincidence. It was all connected.

The tree in the centre of his landscaping shop had begun to die- the branches at the top were wilting and falling onto the ground below. The cherry blossoms around the base had shed all flower buds and collected a mulch of leaves on the floor. Even on Scarassic Islands, the palm trees had almost unrooted themselves, and the infection from Black Sands Island had grown all the way to the volcano. 

Straining his memories, he remembered seeing the shopping district empty. Usually as he flew around he saw at least one Hermit, but come to think of it- Scar hadn’t seen any Hermits besides Cub for over a month. Not in Hermitland, not in any of the districts- nowhere.

“Cub, what did you do?” He asked, his tone more serious.

“There was a powerful magic. I found it when strip mining underneath the Country Club. I took it.” Cub let out a laugh, “It’s so powerful, Scar. You don’t understand.”

“Did you do all this? Did you get rid of the Hermits? You’ve been killing the server? All because of some magic?”

“Don’t try to guilt trip me Scar.” Cub turned to his friend, “This magic… I can control it.”

The whites of Cub’s eyes were a sickly red- like he’d been crying for hours on end. The usual dull grey of his irises had shifted to a muddy burgundy that simultaneously disturbed and intrigued Scar.

“Well it doesn’t really seem like that!” Scar stood, stepping backwards, “Because the Cub I know would never do this! The Cub I know wouldn’t be this cowardly. The Cub I know-” His voice broke, tears biting at his eyes, “The Cub I know wouldn’t surrender to a powerful magic.”

Cub stood atop the wall, looking down at his friend. His eyebrows slanted and he frowned.

“Then you mustn’t know me as much as you thought you did.” He whispered, “This magic is mine now, and I need to do something with it.”

“You need to bring your friends back from the Nether, is what you need to do!” Scar was shouting at that point, trying to drown out the noise building in his head.

“I don’t want them here!” He shouted back, jumping down from the wall and shoving Scar in the shoulder, “And I don’t want you here if you can’t trust me.”

“You aren’t Cub, are you?” Scar took a step backwards.

Cub laughed, throwing his head up to the sky.

“You have no idea, Scar. You have no idea who I am now. I’m the one who’s gonna sa-”

Before his friend could finish speaking, Scar pulled a firework rocket out and shot up into the air. After a moment of Cub growling in anger, he too began flying- following his friend.

Scar didn’t know where he was going. He dove and weaved in between the ConCorp gates, the Stock Exchange, Grian’s base, and eventually Mumbo’s giant sphere. Getting through a stack of rockets in less than a minute, Scar began to panic as he shot back towards Scarassic Islands.

He turned back to look behind him- only to see Cub raise the ConCorp Crossbow and take aim. Cub’s wings spread to their full breadth, and he pulled the crossbow’s trigger.

For Scar, nothing went in slow motion.

Time didn’t slow like they said it would in the movies.

He didn’t watch the fireworks gradually connect with his chest.

He didn’t even see them.

In a few split seconds, Scar felt the white hot pain of burning spreading across his body and grabbing a hold of his Elytra, In a few split seconds, he felt the Elytra seize up and stop supporting him. In a few split seconds, he felt the air rushing around his ears as he plummeted.

Panic ensuing, he watched Cub’s wings snap together as he flew into a dive, coming straight towards his friend. Cub’s reddish tinted eyes glinted in the sunlight as he gained immense speed.

Scar tried repetitively to open his Elytra, a rudimentary clicking sound signifying his failure.  _ Click, click, click, click _ ,  _ BANG _ _!_

His wings burst out, slowing his speed as the air resistance shot him up into the air.

This triumph didn’t last very long, however, as Cub grabbed ahold of the thick leather straps attaching the Elytra to Scar’s back. As Scar looked at his friend’s hands, he noticed the thick, black claws that had begun to replace Cub’s fingers.

“Cub, please! Cub, don’t do this!” Scar pleaded, hysterically scratching at his arms.

From his back pocket, Cub produced a penknife, and Scar was forced to helplessly watch as he began to cut the straps.

He cut through one, leaving three.

He cut through two, leaving two.

He cut through three, leaving one.

Cub didn’t need to cut the final strap. He kept ahold of it as Scar’s arm slowly began to slip out of the Harness.

By this point, the only thing keeping Scar suspended seventy feet in the air was a thin leather strap he could barely hold on to.

“Cub, please! Cub!” Scar managed to whimper through bated breaths, “Cub, I trust you! I trust you, I trust you! Please, I trust you!”

“This is for your own good.” Cub pulled the Elytra away, and Scar plummeted.

He watched as his old friend fell to the ground, and landed on Black Sands Island. He stared for a few moments, his eyes focusing in on the broken body of what used to be full of life.

And Cub continued to watch as the body he assumed to be dead began to move. After falling from seventy feet, Scar had begun to crawl towards the deactivated portal at the centre of Black Sands island. Letting out an animalistic grunt, Cub shot towards the ground.

Scar was in so much pain his vision began to blur. His back crunched with every movement he made, and searing hot bites of pain gnawed at his bones with each slow intake of breath. He felt close to death, but had a feeling the omnipotent magic wouldn’t let him respawn.

He had to make it to the portal.

He had to get the other Hermits back.

He reached his arm toward the obsidian, before a heavy boot forced his body to the ground. Cub, using only one foot, began to push Scar further into the corrupted sand.

Thankfully unseen by Cub, Scar loosened the sword from his scabbard. Contorting his broken bones, he quickly turned around and plunged the sword into Cub’s shoulder, sending him stumbling back.

Utilising the momentary freedom, Scar leant forward and put a Flint and Steel to the obsidian. Fumbling to create a spark, he let out a hysterical laugh as the portal burst to life.

When he turned around, he saw Cub standing- in shock, the sword stuck out from his shoulder, refusing to fall out.

And then Scar saw the tears.

Cub was crying.

Scar had  _ never _ seen Cub cry, in all the time they’d known each other.

And it was heart wrenching.

Scar watched as his friends demented demeanour changed for a moment, revealing true vulnerability- true fear. The reddened corruption of his eyes lifted for a few glorious seconds, and he whimpered one confused and terrified question.

“ You stabbed me...?”

But Cub’s final grasp of humane sanity was stolen. The red returned to his eyes, and he callously walked towards Scar, no compassion in his eyes- despite the fact tears were still pouring down his cheeks.

“Cub, I’m sorry.” Scar whispered, “I’m so so sorry.”

Cub didn’t respond, rather began to root through Scar’s pockets and take all of his tools and belongings. His friend was too weak to protest, and just lay there apologising.

Cub slowly pulled the sword from his shoulder, not feeling the pain as the blood seeped through his white coat. And with one swift movement, he plunged the blade into the centre of Scar’s chest.

Lifting Scar up by the neck, he hissed a final goodbye as his friend screamed in agony.

“I don’t need your apologies. I don’t care about you.”

Cub lifted Scar into the portal, and as his body began to travel to the Nether, he spoke- a broken smile on his face.

  
  


“I still trust you, Cub.”


	2. Chapter 2

It had been five months since Scar had come through the portal, and he had spent all that time slowly healing the injuries Cub had caused. He had been confined to the same room for all that time- not even dressed in his own clothes any more. It made sense, however, as Scar’s jacket, shirt, hat, and even shoes were covered in blood- both his and Cub’s.

The clothes weren’t necessarily uncomfortable- in fact, he had thanked Impulse many times for lending him them- it was more the fact that Scar wasn’t used to wearing shorts. The Nether was very warm, though, so he never needed any more insulation.

It was mostly Doc, Xisuma, Mumbo, Joe, and Python who came to visit him, but Scar had seen every Hermit at least twice. And finally, after five exact months, Xisuma sat down to explain what had happened.

“Hey Scar!” He peeked his head around the entrance, his voice as joyful as it had ever been.

“Hey, X.” Scar replied, shifting in the bed to try to get some more comfort.

“How are you feeling?” Xisuma came and sat down on a chair beside him, holding a package in his hands.

“Well, my shoulder’s still a bit stiff.” Scar said, rolling it back.

“Have you got any of the feeling back?”

“No. Pretty sure the nerves are really badly done in. I can’t feel anything in my hand.” He looked down, comparing the paleness of his left hand to his right.

“And the progress on walking?”

“Doc and Mumbo have been trying to come up with something to help, but I haven’t made much progress. My back still hurts like hell whenever I try.”

“You’ll get there, Scar, you’ll get there.” Xisuma patted his friend on the shoulder. There was a moment of relative silence, the only sound being distant footsteps and the push of pistons.

“Where am I?” Scar asked, “Where are we? Where is this?”

“We’re in a Nether Fortress. Well, it used to be that. After… After what happened, we renovated a Fortress to fit our needs.”

“With what blocks?”

“Cub did take most of our stuff before he… uhm… before he shut the portals. Myself and most of the Hermits got here with nothing.” Xisuma sighed, trying to dance around the sensitive subject, “Not all of us, though. Impulse, Cleo, Bdubs, Iskall, and Wels left for the Nether  _ before  _ Cub to get to them. They brought as many supplies as possible to try and help us survive.”

“Oh.” Scar whispered, “So we’re not going back?”

Xisuma sighed, his eyebrows visibly furrowing through the mask.

“Scar…” He whispered, and reached his hands up. Scar watched as Xisuma removed his mask. Scar had never seen him do this.

Xisuma had dark brown hair, pushed back into a neat man bun. He had a neat trimmed beard, and dark green eyes. Scar couldn’t help but stare.

“Scar. We can’t go back. I’ve been working with Ren to open a portal to a new world.”

“What about Cub?”

“Scar, please. You know we can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Cub almost killed you!”

“Does that matter? I still trust him.”

Xisuma stood, ignoring Scar’s last statement. He put his mask back on and handed the package to Scar.

“We got you this. All of the Hermits.” He opened it for Scar. Inside was his old jacket and hat- no longer soaked with blood- but also not clean, “We tried to wash it, but you know water is… hard to keep here.”

Scar bit his lip, hugging the hat to his chest. Xisuma stood and smiled, leaving the room.

It only took a few seconds for Scar to begin rooting through the pockets of his jacket. He didn’t know what he was looking for, but he was looking for it.

In the biggest pocket, he felt something. His eyes widened as he struggled to pull it out.

Scar spent a few silent moments staring at the Vex mask.

The painted wood felt heavy in his hands.

He delicately put the mask on the bed beside him, giving it one last touch, and went back to rooting through his pockets. It didn’t take long for him to find another thing- a letter.

Scar didn’t remember having a letter on him. With a small sigh, he turned the envelope to its back. The wax seal was one Scar himself had created- the ConCorp logo. Once again with a delicate touch, he opened the envelope- keeping the seal intact.

It was Cub’s handwriting.

Scar began to read the letter, looking at the ink smudged with water.

_ ‘Scar, _

_ I’m sorry. If I gave this to you it means I’ve done something really bad. _

_ The magic has been overtaking me for… months now. _

_ I got rid of the Hermits so I didn’t hurt them. _

_ I have to deal with this magic alone. I might end up destroying the server and I don’t want them seeing it. _

_ I will come and get you when I’ve done it. It’ll take about four months. _

_ I trust you. _

_ -Cub’ _

Scar felt a rush of adrenaline shoot tears from his eyes, and a shock through his legs. He jumped up and began to sprint from the room and down the hall. Well, he tried. After a few strides down the corridor, he fell face first onto the Nether Bricks.

“XISUMA!” He screamed, covering his face with his hands. He felt blood seep from his nose and mingle with the tears, “Xisuma…”

“Scar, what happened?” A wave of relief washed over him at the sound of Xisuma’s voice.

“We need to go back.”

“What?”

“We need to find Cub.” He lifted the letter up to his friend.

“Scar, we can’t.”

\----

It had been three months since Scar had asked Xisuma to go back. Since then, he’d learnt how to walk again, and had been relearning flight with Grian. He’d taken to wearing his jacket and hat at all times, but still wore Impulse’s hand-me-downs underneath. He had told no one about the Vex Mask, and only Xisuma knew about Cub’s letter.

It had been eight months since Scar had gone through the portal. Eight months since the confrontation with Cub. Mentally, his mind hadn’t changed from that day. He was lingering on the memory of seeing Cub cry.

“You good, Scar?” Grian asked, landing onto the cobblestone launch pad he’d crafted.

“Mmm? Yeah, yeah.” Scar stepped to the edge of the platform, teetering on falling off.

They’d been practicing flying from one platform to the next, though even that sent shivers down Scar’s spine. Each time he felt the wind rushing in his ears, it reminded him of the seventy foot drop that his best friend had callously subjected him to.

“You sure? You’ve been really quiet today. Not that I don’t love the sound of my voice, but,” Grian tried his hand at a joke, “I don’t want you doing this if you’re not up to it.”

Scar didn’t respond, instead huffing in anger and shooting a rocket. He launched himself to the other platform, letting the Elytra spread wide. They didn’t feel the same as his ConCorp wings. A vision of free falling flashed across his eyes, and he stumbled in the air. Thankfully managing to reach the other platform, he scraped his knee across the rough stone and fell in a pile.

From behind, Grian effortlessly flew to his back.

“Woah, that looks nasty.” Grian whispered, pulling a bottle of water from his pocket.

“How the hell does Impulse deal with wearing shorts? I don’t understand- I just want my own stuff back. I want to go back.”

Grian’s expression turned sour. He washed the blood from Scar’s legs, but said nothing. Scar began laughing, and fell down onto the stone.

“Do you trust Iskall and Mumbo?”

“What do you mean?” Grian asked.

“Like…” He paused, “As in… do you feel comfortable working with them? Do you feel comfortable being their business partner?”

“Duh.” Grian let out a laugh.

“Would you trust them if they were overtaken with magic?” Scar sat up, leaning his head towards his shoulder and rubbing his head into the jacket, “Would you trust them if they hurt you real bad, but sent you somewhere else for your own good?”

“Scar…”

“Cub didn’t do this out of malintent. He sent us all here so he didn’t kill us.”

“I don’t think so.” Grian threw the empty bottle into the lava sea below, “Scar, he wanted control and was willing to get rid of us for it. He wanted the world to be his.”

“How do you know that?”

“Look, I was you at one point. My friend Sam tried to change me and Taurtis. He almost killed us. So I left. Of course I’ve looked back and wished I never gone, but… at least I’m not in danger.”

“Oh stop it Grian!” Scar shuffled away, standing and moving to the edge of the platform, “I’m done staying here. I’m gonna go back, I am!”

Before Grian could even protest, Scar launched another rocket and flew up into the air. Before he got very far, however, the rushing of air in his ears matched exactly to when he was free falling.

And before Scar could do anything else, he was free falling again. Falling into the lava.

\----

It had been two months since Scar had almost fallen into the lava- two months since Grian had dove down and saved him at the last moment- two months since his hat had been destroyed: burnt up in a single second.

It had been ten months since Scar had come through the portal. Ten months of the Hermits pretending Cub didn’t exist. Ten months of unbearable silence.

He had moved from the makeshift hospital room into a newer, more… homely one. He hadn’t gone out much, however. He couldn’t bear it. Not many Hermits had visited, either. They were all working on a pathway to a new world. A new way to leave Cub behind. Scar couldn’t stand even thinking about it.

“Knock knock!” A very Tennessean, very Joe Hills-y voice came from outside Scar’s door. Rather than answer, he instead curled up on the green bed, hugging the Vex Mask to his chest. He was mourning the loss of his hat- an adventuring keepsake that he’d stolen from the first woodland mansion Cub and him had explored.

“Earth to Scar?” Joe asked, “I am not really havin’ a good time out here in this dull corridor. May I come in?”

Scar tried to reply, but instead let out a sob. Hearing the door open, he fully broke down into tears. Joe Hills walked over to the bed, and sat down beside him. Scar continued to cry, with Joe silently rubbing his back in consolation.

After about an hour, Scar finally sat up to face Joe. His eyes were puffy and his cheeks were bloated.

“Joe, I wanna go back.” He let out another sob, and embraced Joe.

“I know.” He whispered, “I’m here, Scar. We’re here.”

“But Cub isn’t.” His voice was hoarse.

Joe took the Vex mask from Scar and looked down at it. He began to hum a song, and stood up. Scar felt fear set in as the concept of being alone overtook him. Thankfully, after a few short moments, Joe returned- and with something in his jacket.

“I went back.” Joe whispered, keeping his voice low- as if people were listening.

“You… you went back?”

“I did. I had to get somethin’ for you.” He said, “Though I did see Cub. I saw him, and he needs our help.”

Scar began to cry once more.

“He needs our help, and I’m gonna convince the other Hermits to give it to him.”

“It’s no use, they didn’t listen to me. They don’t want to go back.”

“I’ll make them listen.”

A small meow echoed around the room, and Joe’s smile grew. He opened his jacket, and no one other than Jellie crawled out. Scar squealed in excitement as he softly embraced his cat, and stayed there for over an hour, stroking and kissing her.

Eventually, Joe stood and began to walk towards the door.

“I will convince Xisuma and the others to reopen the portal, and we’re gonna get Cub back. I promise.”

“I trust you, Joe. Thank you.”


	3. Chapter 3

Cub walked through the abandoned shopping district, placing his hand on the wall of Cherry as he moved past, and towards iTrade. His appearance had changed- constantly wrestling with powerful magic would do that. The evil power had grown claws from his knuckles, and scales across his chest. Even at his feet, dark red spores grew- prohibiting movement and threatening to grow further up his legs.

He was getting tired. Even with the Vex magic rushing through his veins, it wasn’t enough to keep his body functioning whilst fighting off the great force. He hated to think about it, but he was dying. It was painful to walk, and painful to breath in a way that he wondered if the spores had sprouted in his lungs as well.

“You said to your scarred friend that it’d take you four months to get rid of me, and here we are. Ten months in, and I’ve almost finished getting rid of you.” The magic spoke in his head.

“You know, out of the things I expected an ancient demon to be, I never expected annoying.” Cub retaliated, speaking aloud, “So well done, you’ve exceeded my expectations there.”

“Don’t patronise me, Cub. You’ve been my vessel for almost a year. You know what I’m capable of- you know what I can do to you.”

“Then do it.” Cub hissed, “Stop being a coward and just finish me. You can’t hurt me anymore; you’ve taken everything from me. Just end it.”

He immediately regretted his statement, as a shock of immense pain burst from his forehead. He was forced to suffer alone as rough black horns pierced through his skin and curled back around his head. By the time they had finished growing, the blood obscured his vision.

The demon laughed in his head.

“I’m sorry.” Cub whispered, wiping the crimson away.

“Why are you sorry? You gave me what I needed to win!”

“Not you.” He grumbled, “I’m sorry to the Hermits. They trusted me and I betrayed it.”

“Oh shut up you coward. Trust means squat.”

Cub stopped for a moment, straining his ears as familiar voices shouted out in the distance. They were all calling out his name, tone equal parts scared and worried.

“Scar…? Doc…? X…?” He muttered.

“Oh dear,” The magic spoke directly to Cub, “The noble knights have come to save the damsel in distress, have they? Time for the big bag evil boss to finally win.”

Cub felt himself being pulled back from his eyes- his soul leaving. He watched helplessly as he floated above his body, rising into the air and away from the Earth. He watched helplessly as he felt himself- his soul- dying. 

That was it.

He’d lost.

The body he’d once inhabited turned around to look at him. Eyes blood red, monstrous claws and spines. The demon had stolen his body, and the magic had stolen his life.

Cub had lost.

\----

“Scar! Scar! Scar!” Doc ran into his room, a grin on his face.

“Yes?” Scar replied, holding the Vex mask in his hands, and stroking Jellie.

“We’re doing it!” He gave an exaggerated thumbs up, “Joe gave Xisuma the letter, and told us all what was going on.”

“We’re… Going back? To get Cub?” Scar asked.

“Yeah!”

Scar jumped up, running straight past Doc and down the Fortress corridors, sprinting towards the Nether Hub. Doc followed quickly, using his Elytra to fly beside. It didn’t take long for both of them to reach the portal to the shopping district, where all of the Hermits were gathering.

“Last one to the party, it seems!” Iskall smiled, “Repeat of the build-off, it seems like?”

“Might’ve been Doc’s slow walking speed!” Scar tried to joke, smiling weakly.

“Hey man, I like to take my time.” Doc grinned, nudging him.

A few of the Hermits began to equip armour, pulling out swords and shields from a handful of shulker boxes. Scar refused all, keeping the vex mask in his hand. The preparation slowed, and Xisuma and Joe stepped up.

“Okay, now we don’t know what on Earth we’re going into. Joe has told me what he can, but we don’t have much information. Joe?” Xisuma turned, and Joe stepped forward.

“I only went there for a few hours, but I can tell you what I know.” Joe tried to keep a happy face, but everyone could see he was nervous, “The ConCorp Country Club has been completely destroyed. All of your bases are completely abandoned, and some of them are in disrepair. Most of the redstone in the server has been overloaded with some sort of EMP that I think came from the ConCorp satellite. So that’s a no go. I don’t think any of our stuff is there. I went to Grian, Tango, Python, and Mumbo’s base, and I saw no Shulker Boxes. No stuff. All of our possessions are gone.”

“My sorting system?” Mumbo asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Nothin’ to sort. It’s empty.”

Xisuma sighed, deep in thought. He paced around.

“That’s thrown my plan out of the window. We can’t go and get our God armour, so it’s gonna be a lot harder.” He tapped on his mask, deep in thought, “Iskall, how many suits of God armour did you bring?”

“Wels and I bought 2, Bdubs and Cleo both bought 1, but Impulse didn’t bring any.”

“In my defense, I was panicking.” Impulse shrugged, “Prioritised food.”

“That’s 18 pieces of armour. Not everyone’s gonna get a piece.” Xisuma was clearly getting agitated.

“X,” Mumbo stepped forward, “Surely we should give full sets to the best fighters, and Scar- he’ll be making direct contact with Cub.”

It was the first time Scar had heard Cub even be acknowledged in the equation, and it threw him off, but he carried on trying to lighten the mood.

“Implying I’m not the best fighter on Hermitcraft? Wow, Mumbo.” He let a grin spread across his face. Mumbo smiled in reply, finally happy that Scar seemed to be perking up.

“Right, Right. That makes sense.” Xisuma said, “Best fighters? Who’re the best fighters?”

“I can’t contest to be the best, but if we can bring on a storm, I can use channeling with my Trident.” Doc said.

From there, the God armour went to Doc, Xisuma, False, Iskall, Biffa, and Scar. The rest of the Hermits dressed in a mix of iron and diamond armour- a few gold pieces here and there. And after it had been distributed, they cautiously lit the portal and all filed through.

Grian, arguably being the best flyer, immediately took off to activate the storm shrine, and within a few minutes, the rain started to pour, and thunder clapped as an intimidating welcome to the Hermits.

“Where is Cub?” Xisuma shouted over the chaotic sound of the storms.

“I don’t know!” Joe shouted back, “But we can check ConCo-”

A scream came from somewhere else in the Shopping District as Grian returned to the group. The Hermits looked around, trying to find out where it came from. They got their answer as a rumble of thunder prompted a burst of rosy red lightning to strike not too far away. There was a huge explosion, and a burst of crimson energy whipped through the district, cracking the ground and the cement of the buildings.

With Scar, Doc, and Iskall at the front, the large group of Hermits trudged through the sopping wet ground, passing Cherry, iTrade, and walking towards Sahara.

The Hermits came into a clearing. The front entrance of Sahara, as well as the Shulker shop, had been completely destroyed, a huge crater taking their place. Huge indeed, as the crater reached almost 70 feet in diameter.

Sure enough, in the centre of the clearing was Cub. He was crouching down, his hands over his ears. As the Hermits looked down, each of them let out a gasp of terror. Cub had big black horns protruding from his forehead, as well as long spines that had grown from his back. What was even more horrific was that each of the body modifications seemed to have spread thick red funghi all over his skin. It was like his blood had taken the shape of grotesque mushrooms.

“We clear to go down?” Doc asked Xisuma.

“Only you, Iskall, Biffa and Scar. We’ll cover from here. The  _ moment  _ things get bad, shout up to us.”

Doc nodded, relaying the information to the others.

It was hard to scale the side of the crater- the walls were almost at a 90 degree angle. With the help of Doc and Biffa’s robotic implants, however, it didn’t take too long. 

Scar started to run towards his old friend, but Biffa was quick to grab the collar of his jacket.

“Words first.” He whispered in his ear. Scar paused, looking around to the other Hermits and moving his hair out of his eyes as the rain continued to pour down.

“CUB!” Scar called out, his voice immediately breaking.

There was no response.

“CUB, WE’RE HERE!” He tried again.

Cub turned around, his eyes meeting with Scar’s. There was no red- no evil in his eyes. It was like Cub had returned. Joy overtaking Scar’s mind, he weaseled his way from Biffa’s grasp and began to run towards Cub.

Time seemed to stop as Scar bought Cub into a hug. All the problems seemed to disappear as all quarrels were forgotten. Whilst still in the hug, Scar pulled the Vex mask from his pocket.

“I kept it Cub! I kept the mask! I knew you’d be fine!”

Cub said nothing, and didn’t even return the hug.

“Turns out you didn’t need saving, huh?” Scar felt tears bite at his eyes.

“You don’t need saving when you’re already dead.” Cub growled.

The Hermits watched as they saw a sword stick through Scar’s back.

The Hermits watched as Scar fell to the ground.

And they watched as Cub pulled the sword out.

Scar’s screams of pain were drowned out by the thunder. Doc cried out to Xisuma, but by the time the other Hermits began to scale the side of the crater, Cub had already lifted the sword and brought it back down onto Scar’s neck.

“THAT’S NOT CUB!” Xisuma cried out, knowing truly in his heart that a Hermit would never voluntarily kill another, “TRUST ME!”

The anger and sorrow hanging in the air suspended all rain into a thick mist, obscuring the Hermits’ rationality. Doc threw his trident, and it connected with Cub’s shoulder. A strike of lightning temporarily blinded the Hermits, and when they looked back, Cub’s body was smoking- charred beyond belief.

Anger fuelling his soul, Iskall drew two swords and became locked in a one on one duel with the demon. Swords collided, and at one point it seemed Iskall was on top- his swords locking Cub’s, like scissors. Only a few seconds later, however, a burst of electrical energy shot Cub’s aggressor backwards. Iskall didn’t get up.

Biffa and Xisuma attempted to incapacitate the powerful enemy, but were quickly overpowered. Amazingly, in a burst of fury, Xisuma swung his sword into Cub’s shoulder- such to the point where he struggled to pull it asunder.

In retaliation- or perhaps annoyance, Cub lifted his sword and brought it down towards Xisuma’s head. The Hermits watched as his mask split, falling onto the floor.

“What happened?” He shouted, the tears streaming down his face, now visible, “Where did we go wrong to make this happen?”

“You were too curious. Went looking for things that should stay dead.” Cub spoke, although it wasn’t his voice. It was the voice of a demon.

“That’s what we do.” Doc stepped forward, “That’s what us Hermits do! We get curious! We get curious, and we overcome it, because we’re so much better than whatever ancient magic you are! And we always protect each other!”

All of the Hermits had lined up beside him, and as Doc spoke, every one of them rose a trident.

“We failed to protect our own, all because of you. You’re going to pay.”

In one swift second, the demon was impaled with over 20 tridents. 

In one swift second, everything was over.

In one swift second, Scar and Cub could rest in peace.

\----

There was something missing from the server without Cub and Scar- without the ConVex wreaking havoc.

After a few months, the Hermits decided to move into a new land. The pain that had been caused in the world was too much for most of them to bear, and they thought it better to start anew.

In the new world- in the centre of the shopping district- stood a giant Vex head. No one knew who built it there, but most accepted it as a memorial for the friends they lost to simple curiosity.

Each of the Hermits trusted each other, and they trusted that Cub and Scar were happy in their life after life.

Whether or not it was true, no one knew. 

All they could do was trust that they were right.


End file.
